


A Day in The Life - Chapter Five: Finale

by Alisanne



Series: A Day in The Life [5]
Category: Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter - Laurell K. Hamilton
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-31
Updated: 2013-01-31
Packaged: 2017-11-27 15:28:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/663585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alisanne/pseuds/Alisanne





	A Day in The Life - Chapter Five: Finale

Author's Notes:

Warning. This section has some homoerotic content. If this makes you uncomfortable, please do not read. 

  
  
  


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Anita somehow made it back to her room. She couldn’t remember how she had gotten there. Alone. She was all alone. How could this have happened to her? Anita sat down on her bed, put her head in her hands and sobbed. No, God would not do this to her. Not her! She was special, _chosen_. He would give it all back to her, He would. She just had to figure out what to do now. How to reverse things. She thought back over the past few hours. Maybe, if she could figure out what had happened she could fix it. That is what she did, after all. Fix things....   


First, there was Micah. He was all set to leave St. Louis and there appeared to be nothing that she could do to stop him. Not that she wanted to, she thought. She was still smarting after the scene they had just had, when she confronted him about the overheard phone call. After coming clean about being a married man, Micah’s claim that the ardeur had somehow overwhelmed his will and memory had not sat too well with Anita. Then, he had declared his intention to go back to his family.   


“But you have _us_ as your family now,” Anita had pleaded.   


Micah had looked at her with pity. “I don’t know what happened, Ms. Blake. I do remember that Merle and I came to petition for the job of Nimir-Raj and you were ill, as I recall. Your pard asked us to stay on and help with your recovery.”   


“Well, that’s just fine,” Anita had said bitterly. “So this means I’m left without anyone to run my pard? I don’t have time for this.”   


“I can help with that,” he had offered. “I planned to offer you an option. I can take the pard with me to Indianapolis, so that you don’t have to worry about them any more, maybe get Nate some help.”   


“There is nothing wrong with Nate!” Anita said. She still couldn’t get why people kept insisting that Nate needed help. He was fine. He _chose_ to be with her. Just like Micah had. At least, he had before he remembered that he apparently had a family waiting for him in Indianapolis. It was fairly galling that he was so anxious to go. Admittedly, he had seemed much less appealing to Anita once the ardeur was gone, at least that’s what she told herself.   


Plus, she still had Jason and Nate to protect. That is, until Micah left town taking Nate and the rest of the Pard with him. He couldn’t take Jason could he? No, Jason was hers, _hers_. Actually there were _all_ hers. She just had to remind them of that. Anita was sure that they would be back if they did leave, after all, they had been so dependent on her.... If they all left, Jason would be the only one with her and he could be so irritating sometimes.   


Micah left the next day. She hadn’t been so sure why he had been in such a hurry until she checked her bank accounts. She knew she had over $750,000, but where was it? And what was this shit about a joint account? The Pard couldn’t have been _that_ expensive to feed and house, could it? Micah had taken care of the finances and Anita knew she had to look into that, as soon as she had some spare time. He had to have left a forwarding address....   


“Ms. Blake, here are the papers. You signed this document allowing a Micah Callahan access to all your accounts. He emptied it early this morning. Is there a problem?” She was so angry, that she thought for a moment about sucking this stupid bank employee’s life out with her soul sucking power.... God wouldn’t mind that, would he?   


What she needed was a job to take her mind off of things. She hadn’t worked in so long she could probably use the distraction. That’s what she would do, she would go to Bert, appeal to his sense of greed. He was probably missing her, after all, she was his top Animator.   


As she was ushered into Bert’s office, Anita prepared her arguments. She was even ready to be pleasant. Maybe she should buy some new mugs?   


“So, what can I do for you, Anita?” Bert’s voice was cool, practically insulting. Anita felt herself go on the defensive. So what if she hadn’t done a job in months? It was practically _her_ company anyway. In fact he should just hand it over now. He had only been baby sitting it, after all.   


“I really could use some work, Bert,” she said, trying to keep her face in the semblance of a smile.   


Bert was not amused. “Why should I consider that, Anita?” he said. “You’re more trouble than you were worth. You insult the customers, you charge way too much, and your attitude has pissed off every other Animator here. I’d have to hire a whole new staff if I took you back.”   


“Bert,” she cajoled, “I really need the money. I’m not sure how it happened, but I seem to be low on funds right now.”   


He rolled his eyes. “You, Anita, are a hack and an unreliable harpy. We have Larry. He’s a nice guy and he even shows up on time... forget it.”   


Larry? To replace _her_? That back stabbing bastard! Anita stormed out of the office, trying to ignore the smirk on the secretary’s face. Stupid bitch! She would show them all. She would start with Larry. He had no idea what he was getting himself into, after all. Maybe she’d even follow him out to the cemetery on his next job to show him how a raising _really_ should be done.   


And then the biggest surprise.... She could no longer raise the dead! She couldn’t believe it. She _had_ decided to follow Larry to his job that night. When she arrived at the cemetery he had already set up. And when she had proceeded to try to help him he had laughed at her, _laughed_ at her!   


She decided to raise the whole damn cemetery and show him and his stupid clients. Until her power wouldn’t work.   


“But, but...” she was almost speechless with shock.   


“Anita, could you leave now, please?” Larry whispered urgently. “I’m working here!”   


After slinking away from the cemetery that night, cringing from the look of contempt and pity on Larry’s face, she had gone home and rested and proceeded to try again the next night. And the next. Nothing. it was as if she were an ordinary human. How could this have happened?   


The next evening found Anita pacing angrily in the sitting room at the Circus of the Damned. Only a few days since the Marks had been reversed, since Jean-Claude and Richard had undone the bonds and set so much in motion. Something was obviously wrong, and she would make them fix it. God would make them fix it!   


And so, she was here at the Circus. Waiting for Jean-Claude and Richard. It had to be something that they had done that had caused this. As soon as they could figure it out it could be reversed and she could get back to her life. Well, Micah would still be gone, but there were plenty of men out there. Hot wereanimals and vampires.... And she would have the ardeur to feed again. This time she would do it right.   


She was so lost in thought that she almost missed Jean-Claude’s entrance.   


“Anita,” he greeted her.   


She moved forward to hug him, then realized what he was wearing. An Armani suit. Yes, the shirt was unbuttoned and he had no tie, but he still looked more like a successful businessman and less like what she thought a vampire should look like. And he had cut his hair. It was now tousled and curly, and quite short.   


“I... this is a new look,” she sputtered.   


He smiled and inclined his head. “Yes, it is. I quite like it.”   


Before she could comment further the door opened to reveal Asher, also sporting a new shorter haircut. He was wearing an unbuttoned white shirt and dress pants, and the sight of his chest made Anita’s breath catch.   


“Anita,” Asher said politely, but before she could respond in kind he reached Jean-Claude’s side and pulled him into an embrace.   


Anita cleared her throat pointedly.   


Jean-Claude turned to her, amusement etched on his face. “One moment Anita, I shall be right with you.”   


As she watched in growing consternation, Jean-Claude proceeded to haul Asher into his arms and engage in a deep, long, wet kiss that had both men moaning by the end of it.   


Anita, by now quite testy, cleared her throat again.   


Jean-Claude pulled his mouth away from Asher’s reluctantly and turned towards her. “Asher, mon coeur, I have some business with _Ms_. Blake, but we should be done in perhaps ten minutes. Shall we rendezvous in my quarters then?”   


Asher made a noise that was somewhere between a purr and a chuckle, and it made all the hair on Anita’s arms feel as though they had been rubbed with velvet. Sauntering slowly from the room, he smirked at her and winked at Jean-Claude before closing the door.   


Anita turned towards her vampire ex-lover and opened her mouth, but, before she could speak, the door opened once more, and Richard stepped into the room. He looked fantastic, as always, and he too was sporting a new haircut.   


“Well, Ms. Blake, we are both here at your request,” Jean-Claude said formally, sitting comfortably on his leather sofa. Richard silently perched on the arm of the sofa, crossed his legs and folded his arms across his chest.   


Anita stared into the eyes of her former lovers, not sure where to begin. “I think something went wrong when we separated the Marks,” she said.   


Jean-Claude inclined his head. “Wrong? Why do you say that?” he asked.   


Although she was obviously reluctant to discuss her current difficulties with these two, it seemed as if she had no choice. Taking a deep breath she explained her predicament. “And so you see,” she concluded, “my necromancer powers are gone and I need to get them back.”   


Richard stirred for the first time that evening. “Why?” he asked.   


“Why?” Anita was floored. “Why? Because they are _my_ powers, innate to me! Given to me by God. And I want them back!” She was shouting now and gesticulating wildly with her hands.   


“What do you plan to do with them?” Richard asked quietly.   


“Do with them? What I always do with them, save people, take care of people, kill the bad guys.” Anita wondered if he had had a lobotomy in addition to having had a break down.   


Then Richard smiled, and she got the uncomfortable feeling that he somehow knew what she was thinking.   


Jean-Claude stood up and walked carefully to the desk in the middle of the room. Reaching into a drawer, he pulled out a thick portfolio which he held up. “Do you know what this is?” he asked.   


Anita shook her head. Why were they giving her such a hard time? She was in trouble, why were they not helping her?   


“This is a compilation, a file, if you will, of all of your activities since graduating from college and going to work for Animators, Inc.” The vampire handed it to Anita. “It makes quite interesting reading,” he continued.   


Anita gazed at the thick file folder uncomprehendingly. Jean-Claude had been keeping a file on her?   


Richard was looking at her with what appeared to be pity. “Anita, at first I thought you were a strong woman, thrust into a world of monsters, forced to act the way you did because of circumstances. But I’m afraid to say that I have revised my opinion.” He looked at Jean-Claude who nodded encouragingly, as if to say ‘continue’.   


“You want your powers back? Why should you get them back? You say you protect the innocent? I say you kill without pause, act with out knowledge, judge without understanding, fuck anything that moves, have actively enslaved almost every man you fancy... and you think God supports this? Should we have a little talk about right and wrong? Good and bad? How about morals or ethics? You remember what any of that means?” Shaking his head in disgust, Richard turned away and spoke with quiet intensity to Jean-Claude. “I was going to ask her questions. Questions about how she could have said she loved me and then abandoned me to die, knowing it could cause her to die as well. Questions about how and why her love turned to hatred, but I find I don’t really care.”   


After another scathing look at the former necromancer, Richard turned on his heel and walked out of the room. Pausing for a moment at the door he said to Jean-Claude, “See you next week at our standing meeting?” At the vampire’s confirmatory nod, Richard walked out of the room.   


Anita looked down at the file in her hands, shaking in anger. When she looked up, Jean-Claude was looking at her with an unreadable face.   


“What, don’t you have anything to say?” she snapped bitterly. “Now that I’m down, you’re all against me, hm?”   


Jean-Claude smiled faintly, and the sight chilled her blood. “I think that if you had been more mature, had shown any indication that you could learn from your mistakes, or even that you realized when you made a mistake, we could have dealt together quite amicably,” he said softly. “But to have to cope with your whims, your ignorance and your unwillingness to even _try_ to learn.... Even an immortal loses patience in such circumstances.”   


Shaking his head he turned away from her walking towards the door. “Please leave, Ms. Blake. Take the portfolio with you, look at it. Perhaps you will see things that you recognize as problems, or perhaps not. In any case, should you seek to bother myself or Richard again, a copy of these documents can be quite easily delivered to the offices of RPIT. Your friend Dolf has long been suspicious about some unsolved cases, and I think you would find him interested in talking to you about them after reading that.”   


As he turned back to look at her crumpled form, he delivered the parting blow. “And I believe that you will find that your standard explanation of ‘God told me to do it’ will be inadequate when dealing with the police.”   


Opening the door, he gave instructions to the vampire standing guard there. “Show Ms. Blake out,” he said firmly. “Goodbye, Anita.”   


~Fin   


  



End file.
